UPDATE: The Daily Variety story was incorrect; the MPAA actually rejected a trailer for Taxi to the Darkside, and not the poster. Here's the Variety clarification: "The MPAA did not approve a theatrical trailer for Alex Gibney's documentary "Taxi to the Dark Side" that contained scenes with nudity and images that the org deemed inappropriate for all audiences. ThinkFilm has not yet officially submitted the one-sheet art referenced in a Dec. 19 story, but Daily Variety failed to indicate that it was the trailer that was rejected and not the one-sheet artwork."

ThinkFilm is prepping an appeal to the MPAA, but this one doesn't concern a film's rating. It's about a poster. The poster art for Taxi to the Dark Side -- a documentary about the pattern of torture practice that is on the short list for Academy Award consideration -- is causing a stir due to its depiction of a hooded man being led by American soldiers. The original news photo was taken by photographer Shaun Schwarz, and had been censored before -- when the military erased it from Schwarz' camera. (He later retrieved it from his hard drive.) Variety is reporting that the MPAA has officially rejected the poster, and if ThinkFilm goes forward with the marketing, they could have their "R" rating revoked. Taxi to the Dark Side is due for release on January 11th.

An MPAA spokesman says "We treat all films the same. Ads will be seen by all audiences, including children. If the advertising is not suitable for all audiences it will not be approved by the advertising administration." Alex Gibney (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room), the film's writer, producer, and director says, "Not permitting us to use an image of a hooded man that comes from a documentary photograph is censorship, pure and simple. Intentional or not, the MPAA's disapproval of the poster is a political act, undermining legitimate criticism of the Bush administration. I agree that the image is offensive; it's also real." I've got to side with Gibney on this one. This isn't horror movie imagery cooked up to sell tickets, this is really happening in the world today. And considering the explosive subject matter, I feel the poster is tastefully done. What do you guys think?

*Photo courtesy of The Hot Blog

So we've spoken at great length about the MPAA and the way in which they go about approving billboards. Earlier in the year, After Dark Films found themselves in some hot water after a billboard for Captivity that wasn't approved by the MPAA found its way onto city streets and on buses. Apparently, those ads, separated into four different frames, featured Elisha Cuthbert's eyes and the words 'abduction,' 'confinement,' 'torture' and 'termination.' Folks were pretty shocked to see a woman's eyes on top of those four words, and so the ads were immediately yanked while After Dark Films was slapped with all kinds of sanctions. Cinematical later spoke with After Dark's Courtney Solomon who attempted to clear up the skirmish.

Now, as you can see above, there's a new billboard for the movie Beowulf featuring the mo-capped, left-boobage of Angelina Jolie. And it's a PG-13-rated film. Am I missing something here -- who at the MPAA approved this advertisement? Is this appropriate for 13-year-old kids? She's obviously naked in the picture, except for the fact that they did something weird to her boob, making it look like she's wearing a strange, golden bikini top ... as her hair "slithers" and "snakes" around her body. Hmmm. Personally, I think we, as a society, need to loosen up a bit -- but I do find it interesting that the MPAA would allow an image like this for a PG-13-rated film. I wonder how many guys will get into fender-benders while reaching to get a closer look at Jolie's breast? What do you think?

I don't know much about Melissa George because I haven't seen the majority of films she's appeared in. Actually, I haven't seen any of the films she's appeared in. I do know that her star is slowly rising, and we'll definitely get a much better look at her when she stars opposite Josh Hartnett in the upcoming vampire thriller 30 Days of Night. Thankfully, I'm not here to announce George's involvement in a sequel to Captivity -- although the two films do share similar themes. Moviehole reports that George has signed on to star in Captive, a new thriller written and directed by Amanda Gusack. Apparently the film is shooting in Canada this month, yet I, personally, haven't heard of it (and nether has IMDb).

In the film, George will play a happily married mother who wakes up after a bad car accident to find herself a hostage in a remote waterfront warehouse. Some dude named Vince (who's also a "masked killer") is holding her, and "shocking revelations are about to turn her formerly safe and orderly existence upside down." I'm not sure what those "shocking revelations" might be, but I'd say waking up in a warehouse next to a masked killer is shocking in and of itself. As Moviehole cleverly points out, George seems fond of this type of material. Either that, or it's all she can get. Aside from Captive, she was stuck in a loony house with Ryan Reynolds in The Amityville Horror remake, she was kidnapped by organ harvesters in Turistas and we'll watch her fending off a vampire attack pretty soon in 30 Days of Night. Is it just me, or does someone like it freaky?

According to a report from Beyond Hollywood, Transformers star and (to borrow a phrase from their article) "uber-hottie" Megan Fox will be starring in the horror flick Half to Death. Apparently her experience working with director Michael Bay on the giant toy commercial/summer blockbuster robot slugfest was a positive one, as Bay is producing Half to Death. Directing will be Finnish helmer Antti Jokinen who, according to his IMDB entry, has mostly television work to his credit, and the production is being set up at Rogue Pictures. Former comic book writer Scott Lobdell, whose work has included stints on such Marvel Comics as Uncanny X-Men, Fantastic Four and Alpha Flight, will pen the screenplay, with shooting scheduled to begin in September.

The film is said to be a combination of Groundhog Day and Captivity, although since the latter failed to break $2 million on its opening weekend, Bay's PR people might want to rethink that one. The official synopsis says, "A young college freshman named Teresa is troubled when she discovers she is living the same day over and over again, one that starts out innocently enough but always ends with her brutal murder by an unknown attacker. Could the murderer be her boyfriend Gregory, who is also sleeping with Teresa's roommate Lori? Or could it be Lori, who is ferociously envious that Gregory might like Teresa more? Maybe it is one of Teresa's classmates, unable to get her attention? Perhaps one of her professors, who cannot consummate their passion for their top student? Or perhaps it's some secret Skull & Bones-type society, who picked Teresa for no good reason to be their ritualistic sacrifice?"

Wow. The film that was supposed to serve as the 'alternative programming' to the Harry Potter onslaught this weekend barely opened at all. All the free press and marketing in the world, a popular young starlet, an Oscar-nominated director, and all the rest of it barely lifted Captivity to an absurd 12th place finish for the weekend, topping out at an estimated $1.5 million. Assuming these estimates hold up on Monday morning, the film did less business than Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Ocean's Thirteen and several other films that have been around for weeks and weeks. It did just a tad more business than Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, which has been kicking around for months. In fact, it did only marginally better than Evening, the small-budget weepie featuring Claire Danes and Meryl Streep that creeped into theaters two weeks ago on a very limited platform and had practically no marketing push whatsoever. How is that even possible?

Anyway you slice it, this disasterous showing will have huge consequences for the horror genre going forward. Horror films of the 'torture porn' variety will probably not disappear from theatrical release all-together, but I bet that, going forward, the more gruesome elements of these films will be completely hidden by the marketing gurus rather than promoted. Also, films currently in production that could fall into the torture porn category, like the remake of the Wes Craven film The Last House on the Left will become a seriously tough sell. As for R-rated horror in general, the next test will be Rob Zombie's Halloween in late August. If that does well, expect the heat to cool off a bit, but in all seriousness, what is wrong with the American movie-going public? Aren't there any horror fans still out there? Am I the only one left?

I'm so annoyed that I have to pan Captivity, the horror film we've been hearing about forever that's finally arrived in theaters. The reason I'm annoyed is because I'm a fan of horror, the more extreme the better, and I couldn't be less on the same page as the Nikki Finkes of the world, who think that even working for a publicity firm that does business on behalf of a film like Captivity makes one morally bankrupt. So let me reiterate: I'm not one of those critics who would slam a horror film for being horrifying. I could conceivably write a glowing review of a movie where the lead actress is gang-raped by a group of angry coal miners, gives birth to a two-headed rape baby, and then is forced to eat that baby moments after delivering it. What I can't get on board with is directorial incompetence, which Captivity is, sadly, overflowing with. A retarded gorilla with nervous bowel syndrome could have done a better job of directing this film than double Oscar-nominee Roland Joffe, it seems.

The film drops us into its situation with next to no foreplay: a popular actress/model named Jennifer Tree (Elisha Cuthbert) is kidnapped during a night out at a club. An unknown party slips something into her drink, she stumbles into an out of the way area, and the next thing we see is her waking up in a makeshift jail cell that's presumably located in the kidnapper's basement. A lot of torture follows -- editing-room torture. Someone was clearly worried that audiences would be bored by extended takes of a woman sitting alone in isolation, so the movie makes the most awkward jumps forward in time, going from having Cuthbert's character being alone in her cell to being suddenly strapped to a gurney while a hooded figure walks around her in circles, ominously. Important information is lost in the cuts, like where the kidnapper is coming from, and what avenues of escape that could present the heroine. The film is so devoid of establishing shots that we have to accept the torture scenes on a nightmare level.

We knew the 'Captivity' party would be controversial, but who knew it could affect the horror flick's rating? According to the FishbowlLA blog on mediabistro.com, the MPAA actually threatened to pull the movie's R-rating because of some exterior decor at a West Hollywood club called Privilege, where the party was being held Tuesday night. Remember those tasteless billboards that already got the movie into trouble with the MPAA? Well, someone thought it was a good idea to drape the same offensive images outside the club. Apparently After Dark Films' Courtney Solomon got a call from the MPAA's Marilyn Gordon; afterward the images were removed and placed around the interior of the party instead. Solomon told FishbowlLA that he expected to hear again from the MPAA in the morning.

You'd think that after all the mess 'Captivity' got into with the MPAA over its billboards, Solomon would have known better. Of course, who would have thought the MPAA had jurisdiction over party decorations, even if they are in public view? I despise everything about the MPAA as well as everything about Captivity (except the actual movie, which I haven't seen), so I can't completely choose a side here. I also don't know how big or how visible the images were from the street. I don't think they included the film's title, so they might not have fit into the category of advertisement, and therefore shouldn't have been a concern for the MPAA. If I had my way, the MPAA and 'Captivity' would just battle it out until they destroyed each other, and then we wouldn't have to hear about either one ever again. Unless the MPAA does something drastic, 'Captivity' is set to open in theaters Friday the 13th.

Earlier this week, I got a call from Elisha Cuthbert to discuss what has to be the most talked-about movie of the year so far, Captivity. If I actually tried to give you a rundown all the digital ink we've spilled on this little horror film since the beginning of 2007, I'd never get around to actually typing out this interview, so I'll just choose a few highlights, like the original outbreak of controversy over the film's graphic billboard advertising back in March, the harsh response by the MPAA, the arrival of the first trailer, the release-date musical chairs, and our exclusive interview with After Dark Films about the whole project and the fuss it had caused. As you can probably imagine, the first question I asked Elisha when I spoke with her was, inevitably, 'Do you get asked your opinion about Captivity every single day?'

Elisha is, of course, known for her starring roles in such films as The Girl Next Door, where she played a mercurial porn star called Danielle, House of Wax, the 2005 horror remake in which she starred alongside a pre-incarceration Paris Hilton and famously allowed the stunt people to glue her lips together for a crucial scene, and the Will Ferrell comedy Old School. She's also widely recognized for her work on the small screen, appearing for several seasons as Jack Bauer's daughter on the hit show 24. Those two worlds are expected to collide sometime in late 2008 or 2009 as a movie adaptation of 24 ramps up production, but until that happens, if it happens at all, Cuthbert has a number of projects on the runway to keep her busy. Here is the interview, and fair warning -- it does contain some spoilers about Captivity.

RS: What's it like being at the center of this film's controversy-fueled marketing campaign for the past few months? Do you get asked your opinion about Captivity every single day?

EC: Not every day, but I definitely get a lot of questions about it. To be perfectly honest with you, a lot of it baffles me, and a lot of it is intriguing at the same time, because I had no idea that, in the world of the Saws and the Hostels ... somehow our film has sort of stuck out. I'm grateful for that, but at the same time, I'm a little confused. I know that we had some controversy with the womens' groups, and I just feel like I wanted them to see the film before making any judgments on it. I set out to make a film about a woman who fights for her life and comes out in the end sort of strong and learns something from her experience. But 30 million people chatting about it online? I couldn't ask for anything more!

RS: Did you find the billboards personally offensive?

EC: I personally didn't, but then again that doesn't mean it's not going to affect someone in a negative way, and we're here to sort of appease the people who go see the films. The only thing I can say about it is that I thought that they were interesting enough to be up. I hope people see the film and give it a chance. We're not here to sort of ... this isn't a documentary about, you know, women getting kidnapped. This is a horror film.

RS: Where do you come down on the whole recent issue of R-rated horror films like Hostel II seeming to give ground to films like 1408, which are PG-13 and clearly less gruesome?

EC: I don't know, you know, it's hard to judge. I think that, back in the day, there used to be a lot of horror films that kind of had a checklist of what went into making the 'perfect horror film', and I think now people are raising the bar in the industry, as far as the types of horror films that are being made. There's a sort of psychological undertone to films. 1408 -- I think we're also in the same realm as that, just as the Hostels and the Saws, because there is that sort of psychological fear and we're basing something on reality. I don't know -- it's tough to say, I just think the industry in general and the genre in general has changed and modified -- people want to see more.

Oftentimes Hollywood's lack of originality leads to overexposed trends. Remember when every action movie seemed to be easily defined as 'Die Hard on a ...'? Remember when disaster movies were all the rage? And then twenty years later when they were all the rage again? Remember when there were like a hundred body-swapping comedies? Well, there appear to be fewer trends these days, or maybe it's just that Hollywood turns trends into full-blown practices, as in the case of sequels, comic book movies and fantasy films based on literary franchises. Nowadays even a promised trend, like the one involving religious Passion of the Christ copycats, isn't necessarily going to happen. But despite there being so few here-today-gone-tomorrow film fads, there's at least seven bad ideas currently in vogue in Tinsel Town, and all of them need to disappear soon, lest they too become permanent.

1. Torture Porn

I'm going to start with an easy, surely obvious one. Torture porn is the latest trend in horror, a genre that changes its predominant style every few years, and it may be the most despised -- at least by us non-horror junkies. I miss the days when a friend, an actual junkie, could drag me to a harmless scary movie that provided a few screams, a few laughs and afterward, at the most, a few silly nightmares. Now, with each new horror movie there's promise of a seriously depressing experience. After watching The Hills Have Eyes, I realized I hadn't been frightened at all. Instead I wanted to cry my heart out. I haven't been to a horror flick since, and my friend is going solo. Sure, I hear that Eli Roth's movies are a lot more enjoyable than watching a young woman raped while watching her father burned alive and her mother raped and then shot in the head, but I just haven't been in the mood to find out.

Apparently the torture porn trend is already on its way out. Hostel II performed poorly at the box office and Captivity may have peaked too soon, reaching maximum tastelessness before even opening in theaters. So what will be next? I'm rather looking forward to when slasher movies are in fashion again, when I can delight in seeing sinful human beings killed off quickly and deservedly by an implausible maniac. Which brings me to the next trend ...

When I spoke with After Dark Films' Courtney Solomon not long ago, he told me it wasn't fair to label Captivity as a "torture porn" because, quite simply, there's no porn in the movie. While that may be the case, it certainly doesn't mean there can't be porn at the film's premiere party. Solomon recently told The New York Times that he's planning one of the craziest, most politically incorrect premiere party's in history; one that will take place at the West Hollywood club Privilege and feature, among other things, "the three 'most outlandish' SuicideGirls available from the punk porn service." I'm not exactly sure what that means, but apparently the craziest of the SuicideGirls once set a restaurant in Portland, Ore. on fire. According to Solomon, a few lucky fans will get to escort these SuicideGirls to the party under two conditions: "People take the date at their own risk, and everybody on the Internet gets to watch." Yay for us ... I guess.

Okay, so we have the porn, but what about the torture? Fear not my friends, Solomon also promised "individuals in torture gear" who will wonder through the club grabbing people. Classy! Not only that, but some nice friendly cage fighting (featuring a dude named Kimbo Slice) is also on the agenda. Regarding aspects of the extravagant event, which Solomon admits are "probably not legal," he says it's his "personal little tribute" to all the women's groups who are opposing the film. Another interesting note in the article is the fact that Captivity will screen only once prior to its release -- not for critics, mind you, but for women's groups in New York. Following the screening, Solomon wants to "engage in a town-hall-style debate with detractors." A few women's groups, like the National Organization for Women, have already declined the invitation. Apparently, they're not interested in giving the film more free publicity.

We're not exactly sure how you fans can attend said party; the NYT states that most of the folks in attendance will be fans "who can cycle through the club free in groups of 50, along with an expected army of Web-based video bloggers." I envision it to be some sort of warped Torture Porn Haunted House -- and if Cinematical receives an invite, you bet we'll be sending one of our craziest West Coast correspondents to the event. Stay tuned ...